UFC 218 Results, Recap From Detroit

For the second time this year, Max Holloway finished Jose Aldo in the third round.

Holloway accomplished the feat this time at UFC 218 Saturday night, successfully defending his featherweight title from Detroit and the Little Caesars Arena.

Earlier this year, Holloway unified the belts with a victory over Aldo. This time, he dominated the fight once more, landing 116 strikes to just 72 by the Brazilian. “Blessed” pushed his current win streak to 12 with the victory, which came with only nine seconds remaining in the round.

With a perfectly-placed shot, Francis Ngannou likely secured himself a future date with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Ngannou knocked Alistair Overeem out in the first round, earning his sixth-straight finish since joining the UFC roster in 2015.

Ngannou, who moved to 11-1 with the win, has now finished Overeem, former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski, Anthony Hamilton, Bojan Mihajlovic, Curtis Blaydes and Luis Henrique. The win over Hamilton came via submission, with the other five being stoppages with his hands.

It didn’t exactly set the arena on fire, but Henry Cejudo claimed a decision victory over Sergio Pettis in flyweight action. Cejudo, a former Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, used his skills to control Pettis and claim the win. The biggest reaction during the bout came when a fight broke out during the action.

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez finished Justin Gaethje late in the third round to secure a key victory in the division. Alvarez, who moved to 29-5 with the win, had not earned an official victory since 2016 after losing the title to Conor McGregor that year and having his bout with Dustin Poirier declared a no-contest.

The loss was the first for Gaethje in both his career and the UFC, dropping the ex-World Series of Fighting champion to 18-1.

Tecia Torres kicked off the main card by winning her third consecutive fight, besting Michelle Waterson via unanimous decision. Torres improved to 10-1 overall in her career, with the lone loss coming at the hands of current UFC champion Rose Namajunas by decision back in 2016.